Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A young man who is accused of breaking into a home in Utulei in Aug. 2017 and allegedly stealing property was arrested by police last week.

Fa’amanu Kitiona made his initial appearance before District Court Judge Fiti Sunia, where his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Ryan Anderson asked the court to set a preliminary examination (PX) for his client.

He’s being charged with burglary in the second degree and stealing, both felonies, along with trespassing, a class A misdemeanor.

During Kitiona’s initial appearance, Sunia established his surety bond in the amount of $5,000, subject to the following conditions if he posts the bond. He is not to have any direct or indirect contact with the victim in this case and if he encounters the victim in public, he must walk away from him peacefully and he is not to attempt to leave the territory while his case is pending.

The court affidavit stated that on Aug. 11, 2017, a female individual from Utulei called Central Police station to report a break-in at her neighbor’s house. Patrol officers proceeded to the scene and met up with the individual who reported the incident.

The female who called police told officers that earlier that morning around 9 a.m., she heard noises indicating someone was at her neighbor’s home, so she went back and saw the door to where the washing machine sat was open. When the neighbor returned from work that day around 4:14 p.m., he observed that someone had broken into his home. He then asked his neighbor, (the female who called the police earlier) to call the police for assistance.

When officers questioned the owner of the house about what happened, he told police that when he returned to his home, he found his room ransacked along with that of his cousin’s. His work clothes were missing as was $75 from his wallet.

Officers observed at the scene that two louvers had been removed from the window allowing access. The case was then referred to the DPS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) for further investigation.

On Aug. 22, an individual contacted CID and informed them that she is the owner of the house that was burglarized in Utulei, where the male victim lived. The owner told police that she has some information regarding the alleged incident.

When questioned by police, the house owner stated that the victim had been living at her house while she was off-island. She further told police that in addition to the missing items from the victim, who lived in her house, her room was also burglarized and some of her property was missing, including clothes, jewelry, speakers, a Nintendo. She also said a new cellular phone had been taken from the victim’s room.

Furthermore, the house owner told police that neighbors told her they saw a person by the name of Fa’amanu [Kitiona] coming to her house on the morning of Aug. 10, 2017. According to the house owner, Fa’amanu used to live with them years before.

An eyewitness told police that she saw Fa’amanu walking from the house on the morning of Aug. 11, 2017, carrying a bag and a beer bottle.

When questioned by police, the defendant told police that he entered the house through the door on a Friday, and took a speaker and phone, but did not take anything else.

The defendant is remanded into custody unable to post a $5,000, surety bond.